I think in BaanIV this was done using the OpenWorld adapters. I think there was a webcast from Infor which you could probably download. I guess this approach requires additional licenses. But I am not sure, I've never used that.

In LN it's done using the c4ws extensions. If you would like I can provide more information on that.

You could also consider a kind of workaround. Write a webservice (probably using WCF) yourself which in the background utilizes the AFS functionality of Baan.

If you simply want to fetch data you could also connect to the database directly and use sql to fetch the data.
The disadvantage being that the permission system included in baan won't take effect.
But the advantage is that you get more speed as if you used webservices.

AFS is some kind of remote control for Baan sessions.
This can be used either within baan (one baan session controlling one or more other baan sessions) (I can send you an example if you want)
Or from outside Baan using a win32com client. (I don't have an example for that at hand)

This is suited to manipulate data, but not so much for reading.
I think there is quite a bit of information regarding AFS on this board.

As for the c4ws extension.
If you simply want to consume existing webservices you'll need the Adapter for ERP LN licensed (product id 7056)
If you want to develop your own webservices you'll need to have a license for the Business Studio / Enterprise Studio (I think that is product id 10146)

The Business Studio has some documentation/help included that will explain how to develop your own BDEs. (although it lacks a step-by-step tutorial)
I am not sure what's the policy from Infor regarding spreading information about BDE development.
I was at a training last year at a partner company from Infor and they told me that they aren't allowed to teach it.
So it seems to be some kind of black-magic / exclusive consulters knowledge.

That said, I was able to develop my own BDEs solely relaying on the included Business Studio documentation and might be able to give you some pointers to get started.

We ahave a connectivity tool that allows you to expose Baan transactions as a webservice.

Any application using .net like in your case asp.net could use the webservices. Actually any appllication that can call a webservice will be able to connect to the Baan information. It coul not only read, but also update properly within Baan.

In order to uypdate properly is important to execute programs taht follow the Baan logic completelly such as AFS or Function servers.

Note on AFS presentation (In Spanish, sorry) is Attached, however you could follow up the screenshoots.

To call a webservice from .net; in your case asp.net or any other .net language; or any other webservice calling application. You will need a communications application that receives your webservice call request, process it and provide you with the resulting information.
In our case we have a product that we commercialize to accomplish it. Inside that product you will be able to define your webservice call within Baan.
Once your webservice call is defined within Baan then you can call it from your webservice.
A small sample of the webservice call definition side in Baan is attached, I don’t know if you are familiar with Baan development. The xsi…. Commands are a new set of commands part of the product to facilitate creating webservices in Baan.
If you are still interested, send me an email.
Felipe Saavedra

The discussion covers a lot of ground.
You can refer to the Connector for Web Services documentation on the Infor support site. This is the c4ws connection they mention below. It's true that they are proprietary documents, does your client have full Infor Support? Connector runs on Tomcat and requires Baan Licensing, it does the talking into Baan for you, but I am not sure if there are additional costs. There may not be depending on your client's agreements already.
The Connector for Web Services exposes the WSDL you can use in .NET applications for Baan IV BOI's or LN BDE's. Baan IV BOI's are the AFS/session emulators they are speaking of. Are you developing in Baan IV or LN?
There are many pre written transactions, queries and full processes, for both Baan IV and LN, but support, documentation, and actual functionality can be spotty, technology is changing constantly, it's best to know how to develop your own to at least supplement the standards. This can be difficult without an extensive Baan background, but AFS coding is not the worst and is fairly well documented.

Hi, we have dll functions added to the baan server to read and write orders back into the baan system. I need to 'call' them from an asp.net web application and display the results on a web page (some of the functions return values.) How do i write code in vb.net to connect to these functions?
Thanks,
S

You have currently a Baan dll and your vb.net program and what to connect them.
You need a middleware to handle that piece. The middleware will allow you to send and receive data via the 2 components. The middleware or connector will be the one doing the task of a dispatcher or router. In the case of our middleware it allows you to create code that exposes your Baan dll as a web service. On vb.net side you can write web services calls.
If you need more specific information, send me and email or your skype and I can contact you. Please keep in mind that our middleware is a comercial product.